Revista Catalana de Dret Públic (Jun 2009)
La llei de l'habitatge de Catalunya: aspectes més destacats
Abstract
The article puts into context the drafting of the Right to Housing Act as a response to the specific conditions governing access to housing in recent years in Catalonia, a period in which housing has been felt to be one of the principal concerns of Catalan society. The paper presents the law’s aim of encompassing all aspects of the housing sector. The Act has become the regulatory framework for the promotion, management, marketing, conservation and rehabilitation of housing stock. In addition, the article provides a breakdown of the main innovations introduced by the law in each of the different areas of housing. Among these new features, the following: the consideration of the provision of housing under public policy as a service for the general good; the establishment of the social role of property as a limit on the right of property; the objective of preserving the stocks of publicly subsidized low-income housing through an increase in the time limit for its being designated as such, the establishment of the principle of urban solidarity, and the introduction of one of the welfare state’s basic housing instruments: direct public aid to families to help them cope with the cost of rental housing.
